Another Great Day at the NRBC!

Smart maneuvers and smooth moving reining horses were the name of the game Tuesday at the National Reining Breeders Classic. The competition continued at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas, beginning the day with the second section of the Non Pro Classic Prelims. The first day of competition inside the Tellepsen and Wheless arenas began Tuesday with the Intermediate Open, Limited Open, Rookie Professional and Limited Non Pro classes.

It was a family affair in the Non Pro Classic Prelims with Cade McCutcheon and Mandy McCutcheon splitting the lead in the Level 4 with a score of 221. Cade rode Vintage Crome, who’s by A Sparkling Vintage and out of Smart Custom Crome. Mandy was aboard Special At Nite, who’s by Gunners Special Nite and out of Royal Chic Solano. They each pocketed $3,168 for the first round win.

Tish Fappani rode Spooks N Jewels and is leading the Level 3 Intermediate Non Pro Classic after the preliminary round with a score of 220. Spooks N Jewels is by Smart Spook and out of Whiz Jewels. The Level 2 Limited Non Pro and Level 1 Non Pro leader is Jennifer Greenleaf riding Survivorman (Colonels Smoking Gun x Shining Survivor) to a score of 218. The Prime Time Non Pro leader is Tamara Schiltz riding Shiners Voodoo Juice to a score of 218.5. Shiners Voodoo Juice is by Shiners Voodoo Dr and out of Slj This Is My Juice.

The Non Pro Classic qualifiers from the preliminary rounds will meet Friday, April 21 inside the Coliseum Arena for the Non Pro Classic Finals where champions will be crowned.

In the ancillary class action, a tie between Raeanna Thayn and Laura Fourre won the Limited Non Pro with a score of 71.50, worth $100 each.

Thayn rode Dun Sneakin Out, who’s by Whiz N Tag Chex and out of Sneaking Out Tonight. She’s only been riding the mare for two years, however the pair have formed a special bond, which gives them confidence in the show pen.

“My run felt pretty good and she tried really hard,” Thayn said of her 6-year-old mare. Thayn will finish the week with the Novice Horse Non Pro and the Youth 13 & Under classes.

Fourre rode Colonels Splashy Gun, who’s by Colonels Smoking Gun and out of Bh Splash, and the NRBC marked the pair’s first time to show together. As the last draw in the class the duo from Scottsdale, Arizona, turned in the tying score, making their first show a memorable one.

“I just got him a week ago, so it was a learning experience for both of us,” Fourre said. “Hopefully we’ll have more this week to come. I was pretty happy overall.”

Joe Schmidt riding Highlanders Scandal took the win in the Intermediate Open with a score of 146.5. Highlanders Scandal is by Conquistador Whiz out of HR Short Wheel Base and owned by Sally Berg of Barn 66 LLC.

Normally Berg is the mare’s main rider, however Schmidt used the Intermediate Open class as an opportunity to prepare the mare for her owner and this showed marked the first time in the show pen for the Schmidt and “Tater” as a team.

“She’s a cool little mare,” Schmidt said. “She was really good in there, it was the first time I’ve showed her and I just wanted to get her ready for Sally. [Highlanders Scandal] is a good little trooper, she just cruises around and was pretty easy to prepare. “Berg will compete on Tater in the Non Pro and ancillary classes later this week, while Schmidt will be preparing for his run in the Classic.

Josh Tishman riding Chics Love Me Wimpy (Wimpys Little Step x Dream About Magic) took home both the Limited Open and Rookie Professional titles with a score of 144. Chics Love Me Wimpy (“Duke”) is a 7-year-old gelding owned by Deborah Good of DAG Ventures. Good wasn’t able to make the NRBC this year and instead sent the gelding to Tishman to show. “He’s really easy to show,” Tishman said of Duke. “He’s a real consistent horse and real fun to show and he was pretty good [today]. [Deborah] bought him for her because he’s real consistent and easy to get along with and just real easy going.”

Tuesday was full of excitement even outside of the show pen. PS Mega Shine Chic “Crush” and Adh More Big Luck Ranch sponsored the Kids Academy Stick Horse Race, which brought together the future of the sport for an action packed afternoon including a keepsake stick horse for each participant. “We sure wanted to be able to do something for the kids, it’s where everything in the industry falls back to is the kids and it’s always fun seeing them have fun with things like this,” said Amanda Kelly with Adh More Big Luck Ranch.

During the evening’s celebrations special awards were presented to the past Open and Non Pro NRBC Champions, and contributors and former champions were recognized under the direction announcer of Brian Lookabill. The competitors, founders and fans of NRBC mingled and enjoyed a night of camaraderie while celebrating 20 years of NRBC.

“We wanted an event that would help our industry by paying more money, by involving more riders in Open and Non Pro, and we talked about what we could do and we threw some ideas around and we decided we would do a stallion program,” McCutcheon said. “In two days we had about 75 studs and every single person I called said ‘We’ll do it. If you guys want to do it, we’re in.’ That’s what makes this program so fantastic, it’s not the board of directors, it’s not a small group of people; It’s everybody that’s here, it’s everybody that enrolled babies and everybody that had studs, that’s what makes this program so fantastic.”

The National Reining Horse Association is not responsible for information contained in this press release. Please contact the author or submitting organization for further information, requests or questions.